Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Just finished reading Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes which follows the trials and tribulations of Charlie Gordon. If you’re planning on reading this prepare to be a bit wrung out as you watch Charlie’s ups and downs. This is undoubtedly a sad book, no mistake there at all, but more than that it’s incredibly thought provoking and a really good read. My mind is reeling now I’ve finished and I’m not quite sure even where to start!
Firstly, a little snippet about the author:
‘Daniel Keyes wrote little SF but is highly regarded for one classic, Flowers for Algernon. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation Charly (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical’.
At the beginning of the book Charlie, who has a very low IO, has been put forward by his teacher Alice for a potential scientific experiment to help improve his intelligence. This is a new programme, not yet tested on humans, and so far the tests on animals seem to be progressing well. Charlie is so excited to become a part of this programme. He knows he’s different and all he longs for is to fit in. He thinks that becoming more intelligent will make him popular! At the start of the story Charlie lives in a care facility, he works in a bakery performing menial tasks and more often than not falling foul of the ridicule of his colleagues – although he’s not quite aware enough to realise he’s being made fun of most of the time and thinks that he’s just making people laugh.
The story is told in the form of Progress Reports written by Charlie and which start prior to him being operated on by Professor Nemur until the conclusion of the book. This is a wonderfully simple and yet beguiling way to tell this tale as you watch the reports turn from flawed and full of poor grammar and spelling to very articulate and complex written narratives. Therefore without any lengthy explanations you see, quite literally, Charlie’s rise! The most successful experiment prior to Charlie was a mouse called Algernon. At the start of the story this little white lab mouse can knock spots off Charlie at all sorts of tests and mazes. Algernon’s intelligence seems to be greater than Charlie’s and he’s given increasingly difficult problems to solve before he’s allowed to eat. Of course, after Charlie’s operation his own intelligence increases at such a rate that pretty soon he’s outgrown not only the lab mouse and other tests but also the very professors who seem to have worked this miracle. So, everyone is of course delighted with the procedure until Algernon begins to show signs of regression and Charlie begins to realise that his time as a genius, who can speak 10 languages and out philosophise just about anybody, may be limited. Of course he is incredibly intelligent so he can simply work on solving the problem himself!
What did I love about this book. Well, this probably won’t be terribly coherent but firstly it was fascinating to watch Charlie change. He started out as this fairly simple but genuinely lovely guy who people mostly cared about. Some of these people genuinely liked Charlie, some of them on the other hand enjoyed his misfortune as it made them feel superior. As Charlie’s intelligence rose he started to undergo changes. Firstly, he started to remember things from his past. His mother beating him for his failings, his sister’s shame at having a brother who everyone thought was a dunce, his father, henpecked and harassed by his proud mother. He recalls glimpses of himself from the past being openly ridiculed by people who he thought cared for him. These memories are all a little bit heartbreaking to read about as it starts to dawn on Charlie exactly what was taking place and see him slowly become suspicious of everyone around him. However, whilst Charlie’s mental capacity is racing ahead his emotional growth is not and this makes it difficult for him to cope with the changes and constant stream of information. For example you read about Charlie going through various stages such as a simple crush on his teacher Alice. One minute he’s quite simply in love and the next spiralling into furious anger at her standoffish behaviour. This finally culminates in an aloof sort of arrogance as he realises that Alice is no longer equal to him in terms of intelligence and feels relieved to cut her free. In fact for a moment there Charlie really does become a little bit unbearable himself until he starts to learn how to deal with his feelings. Ironically, Charlie didn’t fit in with a low IQ and he still doesn’t fit in after the operation because his IQ is now so high that people still feel uncomfortable in his presence!
At this point Charlie starts to feel as though he’s being watched by the ‘pre-operation’ version of himself. It’s almost as if Charlie’s personality has split – there’s ‘SuperCharlie’ and then there’s ‘not so SuperCharlie’ waiting patiently to reclaim his body and previous life. Part of this split in his personality seems to be about dealing with his emotions and family ghosts and this is something he has to come to terms with himself.
You do feel so incredibly sorry for him – he’s bombarded with information and knowledge. His brain is like a huge sponge just soaking up every fact and figure possible and yet at the same time a simple human interaction can be so difficult for him. As Charlie begins to adapt emotionally he comes to the conclusion that the people at the lab don’t think of him as a human – he’s their creation – and this and other aspects of the story did remind me a little of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Professor Nemur seemed to create something of his own ‘monster’ in Charlie and indeed the professor reached a stage where he could barely tolerate his own ‘creation’. Until finally Charlie escapes from his lab life and branches out on his own for a while – sneaking Algernon out with him.
And… I won’t give anything further away – I don’t want to spoil the ending after all. This is an excellent book, written in such a simple manner that manages to completely captivate. It tells Charlie’s story with ease and yet at the same time manages to conjure up quite easily the other people in Charlie’s life.
I would definitely recommend this – it’s quite a timeless, simple and yet unique story.
I’m submitting this for four of my challenges:
- Stainless Steel Droppings Sci Fi Event
- Little Red Reviewer Vintage Sci Fi Event
- 100 Books in a year
- Classics Club 50 list
Books galore!
Okay, this may look as though I’m breaking resolutions. But, do I care! No. Books are good! Books are our friends. I like em. And so here are some. Something old, something new, something borrowed and even something blue!
Something old: War of the Oaks by Emma Bull. This is a little bit beaten up but I like well read books:
Something new:
My camera skills leave a little to be desired but…:
- Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees
- Libriomancer by Jim Hines
- Eternity by Julie Kagawa
- Beauty by Robin McKinley
Something borrowed
- Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
- Light by Michael Grant
- Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
- Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
and, finally, a lovely blue gift: Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones.
Wake by Anna Hope
Just finished reading Wake by Anna Hope. This novel totally swept me off my feet. I’ve read it in the past two days staying up late at night even though I had work in the morning. Much badness!!
What a great book. Set a couple of years after WWI the entire story takes place over a five day period in November 1920 where we take an intense look into three women’s lives. All deeply affected by the war themselves it shows the impact of war on all concerned – not just the men – but the women they left at home and how they also survived both during and after.
The three women in question are Ada, who lost her son in the war and can’t get over the loss, Evelyn, who lost her lover in the war and now seems almost resentful of the returned men (including even her brother) and Hettie whose life has been affected by the return of her brother who seems to be suffering deep trauma and is incapable of working or doing anything at all short of sitting in the same place from morning to night.
Let’s look at Ada first. Always lived in the same house since getting married 25 years ago. The two of them seem to have come to a situation where they no longer communicate. Ada is consumed with guilt over the death of her son, thinking that she should have protected him more. She’s obsessed with him, still imagining him to be alive and almost living with the expectation that she’ll see him walking up the street one day. She fancies she sees him and seems to chase ghosts. Of course this has had an impact on her marriage. The ghost of one’s son, it seems, can definitely drive a wedge between two people, particularly when the two seem no longer to communicate.
Evelyn. Comes from a well-to-do family and seems to be forever disappointing her mother. If only she could marry a man with a title! But, no, off she goes, to live in a flat in London with a girlfriend and work (of all the notions) in the war pensions office. Evelyn does make it quite difficult for you to like her as a character at the start of the novel but don’t be distracted by what at first appears to be bitterness – rather than bitterness I would say that she’s frozen. The real Evelyn is trapped inside and it seems like a remote possibility that she’ll ever break out. She acts awfully at times and you could almost cringe with embarrassment on her behalf.
Finally, Hettie. Hettie encompasses all that I would expect of a young girl from this era. She wants to have her hair cut short and wear daring clothes, go dancing in a club and maybe even have a bit of an adventure and take a few risks. Since her brother returned traumatised Hettie spends most of her time working and paying half her takings to her mother to help the family stay afloat. She doesn’t have time for pretty clothes and niceties. I suppose she feels a little bit resentful, she wants to be carefree like her best friend Di. The two work at the Palais – they are dancers and people basically pay sixpence to have a dance with them. Of course Hettie’s mother is absolutely outraged that she gave up her respectable job for this. I did like Hettie. She wants something. She doesn’t even know what that something might even be and for me she seems to completely embody the spirit of a young person from this era when things were changing so rapidly.
Now the setting. The country, although the war has ended, seem to all be in the throes of mourning. So many men killed in this first war and so many families barely surviving. Not to mention the returned soldiers who there seems to be little or no work at all for in the country’s current time. This could of course all come across as very maudlin but in reality this story is anything but and, to be honest, I can’t quite put my finger on the ‘why’ exactly but this book just grabbed my attention from start to finish.
At the same time as the three stories above we have a further story which we read snippets from concerning the return of a dead hero’s body from France to London for a remembrance ceremony – the whole country seem to be holding their breath for this event. It’s as though everybody needs this ceremony in order to finally snap out of their stupor and move on.
So, I hope I haven’t made this sound dull as the truth is it’s far from it. Even though I read far less historical novels these days I enjoyed this time period and this book had me completely hooked. I was racing along to find out what could possibly tie the lives of these three women together. If you’re like me, you might try to second guess this but also, if you’re like me, you’ll probably be completely wrong!
I thought this was a really impressive debut novel, in fact I’m surprised this is the first by this author. She manages to write about this era with such a convincing voice. All three of the women were different, although all sharing loss she managed to portray them all in a convincing manner. I wound up really liking all three characters and feeling quite anxious for some sort of happy ending for them! On top of this, there’s a little bit of a mystery running through most of the tale – concerning a young soldier – looking for his former company – or at least one man in particular. There’s allusions to ghosts and psychic readings – but to be clear, this is in no way a ghost story or paranormal tale. It just makes allusions is all although it gave me goosebumps at one point!
On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I went into this reading experience fully expecting it to be terribly sad and maybe a little depressing, and yes, the subject in hand isn’t a laughing matter. Instead though I found myself captivated. Anna Hope wove her spell and managed to conjure up an intriguing tale, quite rich with emotion that held me entranced until the last page.
I can’t wait to see what she does next.
I received a copy of this via Net Galley and the above is a reflection of my own thoughts and opinion.
Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, readalong week 2
8 January 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Brandon Sanderson, Readalong week 2, The Way of Kings
Banner courtesy of Anya at On Starships And Dragonwings!
This week is the second installment of our Way of Kings readalong being hosted this week by the lovely Lisa at overtheeffingrainbow. (Schedule here) This week’s chapters cover 7 thru 13. If you’ve not signed up it’s not too late – it’s a nice steady pace, only about 100 pages per week, so still plenty of time to catch up plus the new book, Words of Radiance, is due out very soon (beginning of March ish) and so this dovetails nicely into that release. Come on, don’t be shy!
Anyway, if you don’t like spoilers then best to go away about now. Spoilers there be from here on in and I won’t be responsible for ruining the story for you!!
1. Shallan’s determination pays off, but Jasnah Kholin seems to change her mind a bit suddenly, and when Shallan isn’t expecting her to. She mentions knowing of Shallan’s family… Do you think perhaps she knows more than she admits? Or is she really just a bit more soft-hearted than she lets on?
I’ve not made my mind up about Shallan yet. I wouldn’t say that she’s all soft and fluffy for sure but maybe she’s not as big a toughie as she likes to think. I’m not sure that she knows more about Shallan’s family necessarily – that remark came across a little off the cuff as though she simply remembered something about them? For me, it felt a little as though she was just too busy to even reject Shallan again, kind of reminded me of a parent/child scenario where on the 50th attempt at asking for a party and sleepover the parent just goes ‘whatever’ – there could also be an element that she really needs some help? It sounds as though she has a bit of a mega task.
2. Yalb comes to the bargaining rescue as Shallan tries to buy books… Do you think there’s going to be a bigger part in events for him to play?
I can’t see him playing more of a part if Shallan is successful with Jasnah – surely he’ll go back to his ship. But, there’s a small part of me that wonders why Sanderson would make more of his character in the first place if he didn’t intend on using him more. And, that’s the thing, I really did like Yalb. So, why not just write somebody very non-descript who helps Shallan but without making readers become attached. It could of course be simply that Sanderson is very thorough with all his characters. But, again, I did like Yalb and would definitely welcome a reappearance.
3. Part One ends with a ray of hope for Kaladin, as he rediscovers a sense of purpose… What did you think of the scene in the Honour Chasm, and then with Gaz afterward?
Well, it’s probably too early to make these rash announcements but I find myself liking Kaladin very much – I think he’s undoubtedly my favourite character so far so when he went on his little hike to the Chasms I had a momentary flash of wtf! I went into a mini trauma, just for a second mind, then I realised that surely Sanderson wouldn’t allow Kaladin to just step off and die – would he?? I hadn’t figured Syl being his saviour though (which was a relief – and btw, was anybody else gutted when she said she was leaving him? I was like ‘noooooooo’) anyway, I had all sort of harebrained schemes rushing around my head – like he’d step off the edge and only fall twenty feet onto a ledge, then find a cave that leads into the mountains, etc, etc. Or maybe he’d land in something unexpectedly soft – no further explanations will be forthcoming on that front. Maybe he’ll tumble down the side and end up caught on a root and then rescued by a giant flying animal of some sort that wants to take him home to feed the family. But I wasn’t expecting Syl to come back so soon and it was a bloody big relief. the scene with Gaz was excellent and well deserved – in fact I don’t know how he restrained himself to be frank. Bout time somebody give him a shake up.
4. We catch up with Szeth for an interlude, and things are very different for him… What do you make of his choice to enslave himself – if it is in fact a choice…?
Well, firstly my disclaimer ‘I’m an idiot and probably read that bit too fast’ – but, I thought he was sort of already a slave when he was sent to kill King Kholin?? But, I have no idea what this little piece of stone is that when somebody holds means they can command him. Not to mention why he feels compelled to tell them the truth – I mean, I don’t want to come across as a big fibber but surely if he’s just kept his mouth shut!! Clearly he’s much more honorable than me. It almost sounds like he has some kind of punishment inflicted on him – the reason I thought that was the fact that he’s also forbidden to take his life. This way he has to take his punishment with no escape. Did I mention that I’m the world’s worst guesser?
5. We also meet Dalinar Kholin, Jasnah’s father, and get something of a hint that he’s important where the Radiants are concerned… What do you think Dalinar’s ‘fits’ might mean?
I’m not even going to attempt one of my stupid guesses on this one, I’ve used them all up for this week already. He genuinely seems to be having messages sent to him – whether he’s interpreting them correctly remains to be seen but clearly after the hunting scene it’s clear that he isn’t a coward so something is driving him.
What’s going on with Syl and her strange development – is she really what she thinks she is?
10 Bookish resolutions
7 January 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 10 bookish resolutions, The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten Tuesdays
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish is:
top ten bookish resolutions
(Although they don’t have to necessarily be bookish!). I’ve decided to stay bookish and given that I’m a fairly self critical person I have 10 things I think I need to work on:
- Need to properly organise books into some sort of order and put together a schedule, especially of books given to review and in order to get ahead of myself a little bit! Although that does sound like hard work doesn’t it. I basically just want to read the next book that I want to read!!!
- Want to expand reading genres – actually, I’ll be more to the point – trying to incorporate more sci fi as although I read primarily fantasy I also read historical, mystery and horror so sci fi is getting left out in the cold a bit – I’m working on this – see Stainless Steel Droppings Sci fi Experience and Little Red Reviewer’s Vintage Sci Fi event.
- Want to read ten of my classics this year – only read 4 so far = massive fail! Still, I have got time to catch up.
- Want to seriously tackle tbr – it’s out of control and needs addressing – maybe limit the number of books I buy this year (ahem!)
- Want to finish some of my unread series – also getting out of control – will go and actually figure out how many unfinished series I have one day (see No.1 above)
- Need to be more on the ball about updating my blog, behind with challenges pages, A-Z, etc. Basically I write my review and run for cover!
- Hoping to take part in some challenges again like the Women of Genre Fiction by Worlds Without End – really great for introducing new authors and making you step out of your comfort zone (see No.2 above). Actually a great site – go check it out. You won’t be sorry.
- Thinking to change my reviewing style – needs to be more clear whether I don’t like a book as well as if I love it!
- Incorporate some different discussion posts – I enjoy doing something different, fun or just silly on occasion.
- Enjoy reading – I always do – doesn’t really need a resolution but thought I’d stick it in there anyways!
Now, just need to make a start on those lists. Maybe I could make a list of what lists I actually want to make before I start the actual lists themselves. Categories, this is what I chiefly need… Or maybe I could stop prevaricating.
